Industry Insights | Ft. Lewis Phillips 1

Most of you know Lewis Phillips from his work at MX Vice covering the MXGPs, but do you really know Lewis? No, I don't think you do. What makes him tick? If you've read his editorials or heard him on any of the numerous podcasts he's been a part of you know he is passionate and knowledgable about motocross and supercross. He constantly has ideas for features and does countless hours of research to put together stories he believes you, the reader, will enjoy absorbing. I wanted to know not only where his interest stemmed from, but what drives him. What was his education? How did he get his start in the industry? Did he even race? Lewis answered these questions and gave me an insight into how his mind works in this Industry Insight interview. It's difficult not to respect his work ethic and love for what he does. 

Jamie Guida – Vital MX: Lewis, many people know your work but don't know your background. I wanted to let everybody get to know you a bit like I have.

Lewis: Yeah, I do feel a lot of people have very different opinions of me. It's all over the place.

Vital MX: Let's start with how old you are.

Lewis: I just turned 28. That's shocking. I never thought I'd make it to 28.

Vital MX: Oh, really? Were you living the rock n roll lifestyle? Didn't you think you were going to make it?

Lewis: It wasn't in the plan to make it to 28. It really wasn't. Saying that is shocking to me. I can't believe I'm that old.

Vital MX: what did you think was going to happen?

Lewis: I don't know. I have lived a full life already, which is scary. 

Vital MX: Where exactly did you grow up?

Lewis: It's near Brighton in England, which is probably the closest place people will recognize. It's like an hour from London, and it's also an hour from Matterley Basin. That's another reference point. It's very South. I'm two minutes from the beach, but being that close to the beach in England does not mean the same thing as being close to the beach in America. If I said that I lived in California two minutes from the beach, that would be a bragging point. It is not that in England at all. That means nothing, but I am very, very South. Hence my Southern accent.

Vital MX: What were your hobbies? What was life like with your family as a child? What were the things that you did on the weekends?

Lewis: Honestly, very run-of-the-mill. I went to school, and then I raced on the weekend. That was pretty much it. Growing up, I had my own track. Well, I shared it with two friends. After school, sometimes I would go riding, and then I'd race on the weekends. That was literally my life until I got into the industry. There were never any other jobs, events, hobbies, or anything. The schedule was quite self-explanatory, you could say.

Vital MX: How old were you when you saw your first dirt bike? Do you remember your first interest in two wheels?

Lewis: Oh, like one day old. Probably less than that. I was born into the sport. I have no memory of that, but from the very first time that I was conscious, this was all I knew. My dad raced a lot and was quite good. He also wasn't really into any other sports. He didn't watch soccer or rugby or cricket or anything like that. So, I was born into a family where motocross was life, and I inherited it in that sense. It was always explained to me that when my dad was a youth racer, he always had everything provided to him. If he wanted to go race, he was allowed to. If he wanted new gear, he was allowed to. If he wanted a new helmet, he got it. He wanted me and my brother to have a similar experience. If we wanted to race at the other end of the country, then we would do that. Because he wanted us to basically get what we wanted out of the sport and life, I guess.

Vital MX: That sounds like your parents were very supportive. That's awesome. It made it a lot easier for you to enjoy your passion.

Lewis: Yeah, being very old, 28, as we covered, I realized that I was quite spoilt growing up. I got new bikes every year. I had four sets of gear a year, and I was terrible. That sounds quite normal if you're a top amateur, but I was on the other end of the spectrum. I was just a terrible weekend warrior doing it for no other reason than fun. I didn't really find it fun, so I don't really know why I did it.

Vital MX: You didn't find racing fun?

Lewis: No, because now that you know me a little, this won't surprise you. Even though I was terrible and had zero prospects in the sport, I put pressure on myself to improve. If I were 19th at the local club race, I would go to the weekend and be like, "Right, I want to be 15th," if I couldn't be 15th, then I would analyze the situation as deeply as possible. I'd go silent, trying to figure out, "Why can't I make up these four positions" when this was a local club race. It means nothing. I just wanted to be better all the time. Also, as I said, my dad and my brother were quite good as well. 

Vital MX: You do tend to overanalyze things, and you put a lot of pressure on yourself to be the best you can be at work and everything. I can see where that could have a negative effect when you're trying to just have fun doing a hobby.

Lewis: I remember once my mum saying to me, "You don't have to do this. You don't look like you're having any fun. You can say you want to sell the bikes, and we'll stop." I said, "No, I really want to do this. I just want to be a little bit better than I am." They couldn't really understand my way of looking at the situation. I think there was a part of it where I was a little bit; I guess you'd say, embarrassed at how bad I was because, as I say, my family was very good. For some reason, the friendship group that I slotted into were the best riders in the local area. So, I was always the ugly duckling in more ways than one. I always had a high bar to compare myself to.

Vital MX: How popular was moto in Brighton?

Lewis: In England as a whole, it's niche. Niche isn't even a good way of describing it. Whatever is below niche is what motocross is in England. No one knows. In school, I was the only person who had any idea what the sport was. There wasn't anyone who raced, rode, or even would say, "Oh. motocross. I know what that is." There were a couple of kids that went, "Oh, yeah, motocross. So, do you do a backflip?" That was the general consensus of what I did, but it's not popular in England at all. It's kind of looked at as a pikey sport, and everyone is stealing bikes and turning up in caravans. It's not taken seriously. It's more looked at as a hooligan sport. That's a better way of putting it. Which, I guess, is the same everywhere, but especially here. It sucked because, as I say, motocross was my entire life from the moment that I gained consciousness. So, to be in school and not a single person understand what I was interested in or even be respected even a little sucked.

Vital MX: It probably made you feel lonely when you weren't with your buddies.

Lewis: I guess that's why I'm living for the weekend. I think that's actually a brand, Living for the Weekend. As I said, we had our own track, so I sometimes rode multiple times a week after school so I got my fix. 

Vital MX: What was the first professional race that you remember seeing? Was it an American race or an MXGP?

Lewis: Well, my dad raced in the French Supercross championship, but I don't remember that. I was there but don't remember it because I was so young. So, that doesn't count. The first thing I remember watching is the 2004 Namur (Belgium) GP on TV. I don't know why I watched that on TV, but I remember watching Stefan Everts and Mickael Pichon battling. I remember my dad saying he liked Pichon, so my little brother said, "Well, I like Pichon," I said, "Okay, then I'll root for Everts." I'm being completely honest, and I have no memory other than that moment, but after that I was all in and knew everything about every rider, every series, and everything that was happening. I have no memory of the transition from point A to point B. I just know that it started there, and somehow, six months later, I knew everything, and my entire life was based around being able to watch American Supercross, American motocross, the British championship, and GPs. As I said, I don't know how I got from point A to point B, but it happened very fast.

Vital MX: How were you digesting this information? The internet was still relatively in its infancy. There wasn't YouTube to go watch all these videos. 

Lewis: Bar to Bar was a big part of my childhood and magazines. I would buy five magazines a month, some English and some American. So, there is a good variety of coverage there. There were some websites. I was on RacerXIll.com, as it was called back then, every day checking. Apart from that, no, there weren't really any other websites. So yeah, I guess it was just that. Again, it makes no sense to me how I accelerated to being all in. Somehow it happened ridiculously quickly.

Vital MX: You've admitted you weren't a great racer, so when do you have the thought, "I want to be in the industry, so I better find a route?"

Lewis: All of us, I believe, growing up, dream of being a professional athlete in some sport. I very quickly realized that wasn't going to happen to me. So, from the age of seven, I was like, "Right, I'm not going to be a professional rider. Let's throw that out of the window now. I still want to be involved in the industry. You know what? I think that I'm pretty good at writing, and I enjoy that. So, I'm going to be a motocross journalist." God's honest truth, that is how it happened. I remember in 2005, I would have been ten, and it might have even been sooner than that, I made, this is really dorky, I made a complete magazine by myself cover to cover. It had a front cover design, articles, and a content page. I basically took a copy of RacerX and followed the general format of a magazine but made my own. It took me quite a while, but that was my passion. I thought, "Right, I'm going to learn how a magazine looks and what should go in it, and I'm going to write stories, and I'm going to make my own little thing here. I can't remember what I called it. I think I called it MX Life or something. It never went to press. It didn't take off.

Vital MX: Did you share it with people?

Lewis: No. Again, I guess this makes sense now. I have a very high standard, and if I've done something and it is not to the highest standard, then I don't want people to see it. It is just the way I'm wired. There is no real rhyme or reason.

Vital MX: So, you decide you go to college, right? 

Lewis: I did high school and got all my qualifications there. Then I went to college and did English language, media studies, photography, and information technology, which is computers. I picked those four subjects around wanting to be a motocross journalist. It was, "What do I need to know, and what will impress people when I send my resume off?" I only picked photography because I thought to myself again, how naive of me. I thought to myself, there are going to be so many people who are sending a resume to RacerX saying, "I want to write about motocross." So, if I can say, "Hey, I'm also qualified in photography," that will put me on a higher step than the others. In hindsight, no one wants to write about motocross at all, and it's a dying art. At the time, I felt as though there were a lot of people who were dying to write about motocross.

Vital MX: What's the first thing you write that somebody sees? Is it after college? 

Lewis: As far as getting into the industry, I didn't have a plan, connection, or path to make it. I really had no plan. Then one day, when I was in my first year of college, I saw a Facebook post from this new media company. I don't even think there was a website at that point but it was called MX Vice. It said, "If there are any journalists, photographers, videographers, or anyone who wants to contribute or help out, get in touch." So, on a wing and a prayer, I replied to this Facebook post and started sending in free columns. Columns about the most random stuff, whatever came to my mind. I think the second column I wrote was about James Stewart going to JGR. So, this would have been the winter of 2011 or 2012. That's how I got started, but it's not like MX Vice was a powerful media company at that point, and it's not like I had any connection to the industry. That was a step, but it wasn't like, "Okay, I'm in the industry." This was my first year of college, so suddenly, I was juggling quite a lot because I was trying to put good content out there and make a name for myself whilst also trying to get the qualifications that I needed to make progress in the industry or that I thought that I needed. Again, not many people in motocross ask for your qualifications. At least I put my best foot forward. I remember, obviously, your grade in college is made up of four different projects throughout the year. Basically, quarters one, two, three, and four. In one of my courses, I sat my professor down and said, "I'm really focused on writing these columns for free at the moment. This is my main focus besides college. I think what I'm going to do is I'm going to flunk quarter one of this course, which will really put me on the back foot, but I know that I'm good enough to ace quarters two, three, and four. Then my overall grade will still be an A or a B. I'm certain that I can make this work. So, work with me. Let me flunk the first part of this course, and trust me, I'll make it up, and I'll still have one of the highest grades in the class." They weren't pumped and were very confused because they asked, "Are you getting paid for this?" I answered, "No." They were like, "Right. So, you're laying everything on this." "Yep. In my heart, I think this is the right thing to do." So, I did that on my first quarter project or exam, or whatever you call it. I got a U which is ungraded, which means that I basically got zero. I pulled it around, and I ended up with an A because I got an A+ in quarters two, three, and four. So, it averaged out as an A, and honestly, I was quite proud of that because I executed my plan exactly as I explained it to people. There was no guarantee that it was going to lead anywhere. You never know what will happen in life, but in my heart, I was like, "I need to take this opportunity and run with it." In the end, it all worked out because, obviously, I ended up getting paid by MX Vice, and I got qualifications in all of those college courses. So, I got the best of both worlds.

Vital MX: In these early days of writing for MX Vice for free, are you getting feedback from people, the consumers, or people in the industry? 

Lewis: No, not really, because as I said, MX Vice wasn't even a website, so no one was really reading it. I was getting feedback from family and friends telling me how great I am. I wasn't going to races or anything, so it's not like I was doing interviews. I was purely doing opinion pieces. I must have shared my opinion on every single ounce of this sport because I didn't have the contacts to do interviews. All I could do was share my opinion, which, now that I think about it, was probably good because it forced me to create opinions about very weird subjects, whereas otherwise, I could have just picked up the phone and done an interview and happy days. It forced me to go the hard route. I believe it makes more of a statement because people say, "Well, look at this kid. He's got an opinion, and he is writing an article without spelling mistakes, without grammar mistakes." When I look back at my first articles, there are more mistakes than I'd like, but not so many spelling mistakes. It doesn't flow as well as I'd like it to. I would have added something there, or I would have taken that out. That point went on for too long. It wasn't perfect, but I learned as I went. I didn't have a mentor or anything. I just figured it out.

Vital MX: When do you start going to races? When do you start getting contacts? When does it shift? 

Lewis: I started writing for free in October 2011. The first race that I went to was the Nation's 2013. Well, I went to British Championship races, but that won't do anything for your career. So, the first international race I went to was the Nations 2013, and that weekend I got an interview with (Roger) DeCoster, and to this day, I still can't believe he said some of the things he said. I think he was caught off guard because this is genuinely how the story went. I walked up to him, looking like a fan; obviously, because I was so young, I would have been 16. He said to me, "Do you want an autograph?" I was like, "No, an interview." So, he did the interview with me, and it was just a little post-race interview. I'm guessing he felt that the interview wouldn't go anywhere at all, and he was very harsh on Dungey. Honestly, it was brutal. I published that interview straight away. I ran back to the press tent and typed it up because I knew I was onto something. I published it that evening, and it got picked up by RacerX, and it got picked up by everyone. That was kind of my break, I guess you'd say, because that's when people started recognizing my name. That was when people were like, "Okay, this guy can do it. This guy knows the right questions to ask. He knows how to get information." 

Vital MX: I believe you do a good job of saying what you believe and not pulling any punches. That's not easy in this industry, and it caused some issues in the GPs.

Lewis: I think I'm a little weird. Even with my very good friends in the industry, I would spend all day hanging out with them on Friday. Then the second that practice started on Saturday, I'd stay away because I'm a nuisance, even though we're talking about riders who I'm very good friends with, I would be like, "No, I'll talk to them at the end of the day." If they see my face again, it's like, "Oh, what is this guy doing under the tent." I always subscribe to the theory that once the first practice started, they were at work, and I was at work. So yeah, I'll talk to them later, I also want to be friends with people, but I don't think I have to hang out. I try and build a reputation and a name for myself. If I'm hanging out soon enough, someone will go, "Hasn't he got work to do? Why isn't he working?" I'd rather have a reputation of, "Where's Lewis? Oh, he's in the press room working.